Cabling - do you have a colour code?

[AfterEffect]

Hey all!

So I currently manage the infrastructure for the UK/Irish chain of a retailer (about 150 office/warehouse staff, 100 stores) and through the misalignment of planets I've never really worked or been taught by someone with a network based background.

We're moving to a new office later in the year so want to actually get some standards in place in terms of networking, instead of having a server room that looks like Picaso just threw up.

Do you guys have a colour code (red for comms, blue for systems, yellow for users etc) or do you prefer just to use one colour throughout?

 

[Kei]

Different type of business but ours are:

Blue = Main network (POE + comms)
Black = Users (daisy chain from Ip phones)
Red = Internal network (avid video editing)
Orange = KVM

 

[ChocolateStarfishRammer]

Education:

Yellow = Users Desktops etc
Blue = Printers
Red = IP Security Camera's etc
Black = IP Phones
Pink = Forgot to order replacement cables and need to get it working.

 

[Sp00n]

Yes I use different colour cables depending on the patch, as for which colour, entirely depends on what I have accessible to me at the time, I don't have a go-to colour for each type, just as long as they are different.

 

[#Chri5#]

Everyone will have their own colour "scheme", so pick one and stick with it. Also get a cables in a mix of lengths so avoids the crime of somebody using a 5m cable to go 1m in a cab

 

[Rroff]

I've always tried to keep stuff colour coded but never been taught of any kind of standard for it.

The only thing I've seen semi consistent is that red is often used for video stuff for some reason, yellow/blue tends to be users and black is often used for internal/server/bridging, etc. type use.

 

[PistolPete]

Grey - Servers
Grey - Desktops
Grey - Printers
Grey - IP phones
Grey - IP cameras
Grey - Wireless Access Points
Grey - Projectors
Grey - Digital Phones
Grey - Analogue phones / fax

Gotta love the public sector

At least at home I have red for untrusted connections (far side of the firewall), orange for DMZ connections and green for trusted (LAN) connections.

 

[ecksmen]

Grey just makes more sense with a label at each end with some sort of identifier.

 

[Caged]

If you put patching into racks with no vertical management then you should be shot. 2-post Panduit racks or get out.

 

[Terrier_Jimlad]

NHS:

Server Room - Server Patch = Purple
Server Room - Management LAN Patch = Green
Infrastructure Cabling = Orange
Desktop Patch = Blue
Telephone/Comms Patch = Red
Wireless Patch - APs/Controllers = Yellow

Doesn't really matter on what colour you choose, as long as you stick to it and don't mix and match, helps identify what the cable does when you're scrambling around like a headless chicken

 

[nutcase]

We just use what our regular cabling company has suggested:

Grey - Network
Blue - IP Phone
Yellow - Link
Orange - Wifi
Red - Critical link

 

[Raumarik]

It won't matter, the instant a lazy desktop support guy gets in there the colour scheme will be wasted anyway lol

 

[bledd]

I wish.

Will cost a few hundred to get the cables. Hard to justify.

 

[Caged]

It won't matter, the instant a lazy desktop support guy gets in there the colour scheme will be wasted anyway lol

Your fault for letting the desktop guys into your comms room, or not having suitable lengths of patch cords unwrapped and arranged by colour and length hanging up on the wall with the colour code printed and stuck up next to them.

 

[DJMK4]

Generally in our datacentres we try to yeah, or at home if im building a lab I will try to, depending if I have the colours available.

A small business I done networking for recently I used the following on the patch panel

GREY - Workstations
RED: WAN Connectivity
BLUE: Servers